[wind gusting]
[dramatic music playing]
[kris] the secret to gold mining
is you need to make your own opportunities.
You can't just wait for success
to fall into your lap.
-[suspenseful music playing] -[singer] ♪ I'm a winner ♪
♪ looks like you're the beginner ♪
[kris] you have to get off your ass
and find it yourself.
-[man] I'm seeing gold. -[woman] whoo!
[man] with this claim for sale
and gold prices through the roof...
[singer] ♪ I take what I want 'cause I know I can ♪
[emily] all of these claims are available.
[kris] nothing is off-limits.
[singer] ♪ my world ♪
-♪ beyond what is over ♪ -[singer] ♪ uh-huh ♪
[man] first-ever gold mining sailboat dredging deck.
[man] finally...
[humming]
[singer] ♪ come on, come on ♪
[singer] ♪ even though the money will rain ♪
[kris] we're pushing ourselves like we never
have before.
It's time to make this happen
to uncharted territories.
[man] ♪ yo, baby, this is it, the real adventure ♪
♪ uh-huh ♪
[kris] we're willing to do whatever it takes
to strike it rich.
[singer] ♪ I take what I want 'cause I know I can ♪
oh, it's right there, right there!
[man speaking]
[man] there is a piece.
-There is a piece. -Woo-hoo.
[vernon] that's the stuff of dreams, my friend.
[singer] ♪ gonna get some, huh ♪
[seabirds squawking]
[suspenseful music playing]
[mike] seventy miles east of nome, alaska...
[andy] we're in golden bay.
We parked here last night
so we can stay the night and barbecue
and get a fresh start in the morning.
[kris] well, sleeping conditions were tight,
very friendly last night.
But my brother sounds like a damn chainsaw.
[imitates snoring sound]
so, I woke up feeling half refreshed.
We're gonna need an extra
little bit of boost this morning.
It's called bacon and eggs
because probably without it,
we won't be getting gold.
[mike] the kellys have left nome far behind,
chasing kris's years long dream
of finding the mother lode farther up the coast
than they've ever been before.
[suspenseful music playing]
[mike] and today, they'll finally
complete the journey.
-I'm not eating. -[kris] why not?
[andy] the bathroom on this boat smells really bad.
So...
I'm trying to limit how much I eat.
[kris] well, I've got to take my morning [bleep].
Uh, if I don't, my whole body will be thrown out of whack.
And yes, I did just wash my hands,
I want to point that out.
What's on the agenda today after breakfast?
We're gonna go to elim for some shock and awe action.
This is it. After literally years
of blood, sweat and tears,
yelling, fighting, disasters
and basically poverty,
today is finally the day.
We're on our way to elim.
I'm about ready to make this happen.
This is the biggest adventure we've been on
since we started gold mining.
If it pays off for us, we could be millionaires.
Next year this time,
we're driving a new truck even.
Who knew?
No, anchors are up.
We're leaving right now.
[suspenseful music playing]
everyone and their brother right now in nome
is fighting over these claims.
So, we went to hell and back
just to stake a claim out here.
We put every last penny into this operation.
Plus, I borrowed a few.
This really has to pay off.
Let's see if these guys can find some gold.
Dave doesn't believe we're gonna get any gold.
So, I got a lot to prove today.
I know sometimes arrogance is my downfall,
but you have to believe in yourself,
when you do this [bleep] dirty,
you wouldn't be here.
Never let fear and common sense stand in the way
of a good adventure.
[chuckles]
well, I know I'm gonna make it work.
[suspenseful music playing]
[kris] in mining, the only way to make it in...
Anywhere in mining is own your own land.
You know, you got to have your own claims,
they're your future.
So, this is my future.
[suspenseful music playing]
[mike] eighty miles west...
[suspenseful music playing]
we're gonna need to cut a hole there,
get some rubber on there.
The last set of screens
for that and here.
Mr. Gold's pushing hard.
It's close.
The pump would need to go that way.
Yeah.
[mike] racing to overhaul
the myrtle irene's wash plant,
upgrade the pump,
and add a second sluice box
and get her on the gold, asap.
We got two weeks of work to do in four days.
So, it's crunch time.
[suspenseful music playing]
[shawn] I see the light at the end of the tunnel,
but I'm trying to what I call it
as managing chaos.
I'm spreading myself super thin.
That's because I'm going for it all this summer.
I wanna dominate nome.
To do that, I'm attacking the battlefield
from all fronts.
[engine starts]
[upbeat music playing]
we got the christine rose out digging.
It's gonna be up to the christine rose
to keep us afloat.
It's been making money.
Cody has been keeping it on the gold.
We've been doing very good.
But I'm hoping that our good fortune
carries on because I have
a $590,000 payment
on the tomcod.
And now, dad's retiring.
So, now I gotta take this over.
[upbeat music playing]
[shawn] I have a three- pronged plan this summer,
keeping the christine rose on the gold,
getting the myrtle up and running
and buying out my dad's half
of the inland landmine.
It's not gonna be easy.
My dad and I have a long history
of being at each other's throats.
You're [bleep] dad [bleep].
Oh, you're gonna [bleep] hit me?
It wasn't my half of the [bleep] my money
that paid for all the equipment?
Get the [bleep] away from me!
[shawn] I have no choice.
If I want this plan to work,
I got to deal with the old man
and get him out of the picture finally.
How's it going, dad?
Going one day at a time,
-no pay dirt. -Yeah. I can see that.
Moving dirt for two days for two loads
-of stinking pay dirt. -Ah.
So, what's up?
Uh, I wanna talk about the inland mine.
[suspenseful music playing]
I ain't got time to talk about that now.
You got gold to make here.
[suspenseful music playing]
[steve p] I can meet you at breakers later on tonight.
Sounds good.
Okay. And then we'll talk about it then.
[shawn] I'll see you at the breakers tonight then.
Okay. At the breakers later.
[engine starts]
typical dad, never has time to talk.
But it's kind of an important piece to the whole puzzle.
I need to know how much it's gonna cost
to buy him out.
[mike] at the dock...
[vernon] all right guys, here's the deal,
this is for the roses guys.
[mike] today on the gold ship, wild ranger,
it's game on.
Each one of you guys is gonna have your own test map.
After you dive, we will check it for gold.
We'll keep track of it.
And then the top dog is gonna get a significant...
Maybe a trip to vegas.
-Viva las vegas. -You guys are in trouble.
[vernon] so, whatever.
It's gonna be a bonus at the end of this rodeo.
-Oh, yeah. -I mean, I hope
we'll all go on a trip to vegas.
Or down hawaii when this is all over with.
We're on the gold.
56 is paying off
and it looks like it's gonna pay off big.
And believe me, big is what I'm looking for.
I've got to put my foot on the gas as hard as I can.
I'm gonna get these guys in a competition
to see who can get the most gold.
When they do better, I do better.
We all benefit.
Jerry, you'll be up first, bryan second.
You think you can whoop his ass?
I'll put a hundred dollars on it. I think I can.
[vernon] how about you, bryan?
Oh, absolutely.
[upbeat music playing]
[mike] the rules for today's great claim
56 faceoff are simple.
Each diver will have his own test mat.
Each diver will have the same amount of time to mine.
And at the end of the day, the diver with the most gold
in his test mat will win a luxurious trip
to las vegas.
[vernon] okay. Let go of the bowline
and push us off.
Let's get the hell out of here, get out there
and get some gold.
-[upbeat music playing] -[vernon] the truth is,
this claim was very expensive to purchase.
And so, I need these guys to just be as productive
as they thought we can
so that I can pay this damn claim off.
We need some gold.
I got fingers crossed.
I'm hoping we're gonna get some good visibility.
[clears throat] but good vis or not,
we got our spot and we're gonna put
our diver down and get some gold.
Well, I think the added incentive,
it's gonna supercharge things today.
I think the pots is gonna be overflowing with gold.
Okay. We're here.
Jimmy the gold diver will be going down shortly.
We need to put that damn test mat
in before we get started.
[man] definitely ready to get gold.
I'm ready.
[man speaking]
-so, now [indistinct] -all in. I'm all in.
[vernon] they're gold hungry right now.
I'm betting money.
[suspenseful music playing]
[man] down to the bottom.
There's gold down here.
[man] heading out.
[suspenseful music playing]
[man speaking]
[suspenseful music playing]
[man speaking]
all right.
[man] now, let's see here.
Oh, yeah. Guys, this looks really good.
This is the stuff I like.
[vernon] yeah. Yeah. That looks damn beautiful to me.
[man] down low, easy to work.
-Oh, yeah. -[man] ah.
We getting gold today, vernon.
There is a piece. There is a piece.
There is a piece right there.
It's beautiful. Yeah. I see some nice looking
little starfish down there.
Don't suck up any of those starfish, man.
I like starfish.
[man] I'll try not to.
Uh, yeah. Hey, this is the most excited
I've heard you forever.
[man] I'm seeing gold.
I'm seeing gold, man.
Woo, baby.
You turn it up, buddy.
This is how I do it.
I get them at each other's throats
and I'll just sit back and reap the room for it.
That's the stuff of dreams, my friend.
[man] yes, sir. It is.
[vernon] I tell you, gratifying.
Uh, this is all good stuff.
This is good stuff.
This is my own personal
gold bank at the bottom
of the bering sea,
the gold bank of vernon.
[upbeat music playing]
hey. Knock, knock.
Permission to come aboard.
-Hey. Permission granted. -[steve r] hey.
[emily] come on. How are you doing?
-Hi. Nice to see you. -Good to see you.
-How's it been? -Oh, well,
I'm still looking for work.
[suspenseful music playing]
[mike] steve riedel pays his daughter, emily,
a social visit.
Well, not really.
I've been pounding the, uh, docks pretty hard.
So, how about you? What are you up to?
I came here to cash in on claims
and record gold prices.
But so far, I'm a million dollars shy
of being a millionaire.
First thing I need is a gig.
One of the best cards I have to play,
familial guilt.
So, you need a diver?
Um...
Maybe me?
Um, it's...
I think, uh, I think I'm good.
Oh, okay.
What else you got going on?
Uh, you know, um, actually,
uh, one thing we could do is, uh, here,
come take a look.
Oh, okay.
[emily] right now, my dad can't be a part
of the eroica crew.
But, um, I could definitely use him
for, um, another project.
-I am buying a claim. -Oh.
[emily] and here's a map
of the tracks from the state.
[steve] okay. Oh, that's a big step for the...
For your boat here.
-For this boat. -[emily] yeah.
I've been able to save money
over the years and it's really time
to spread my wings and look in other places
and if people want to mine on the claim,
they pay me royalties.
Instead of me paying them which is nice.
-[steve] mmm-hmm. -After all this time.
[steve] I'm really impressed with emily.
She's one of the youngest miners up here
and for her to be stepping up and buying the claim.
I'm really proud of her.
[emily] all the way down here there's the... You see,
-there's the nome river. -[steve] oh.
-You want to go east? -Uh...
Yeah, there's six and three.
I was thinking we could check out the beaches.
Maybe we could take you side by side
down to do some samples.
-[steve] okay. -[emily] do some prospecting.
There are lots of people hitting the ground
out west focusing their energy there.
I'm kind of more interested
in looking at the claims out east.
It's that that claim four...
I didn't find anything out there
but I'm still looking at claims three and six.
There's potentially some good gold out there.
Yeah, I guess we'll just make a day of it.
Bring pan, shovels,
classifier, some food.
[steve] mmm-hmm. Gas, gasoline.
-Gasoline. -[steve] just in case.
[emily] start with the beaches.
Go poke some holes
and go from there.
So what is beach prospecting paying?
Oh, I don't know.
I mean, like I said we're prospecting.
-[steve] mmm-hmm. -So we're not running dirt.
It's a fact-finding mission
not a gold finding mission.
Right now this is sort of an unpaid internship.
If it ends up being a profitable lease,
you know, maybe we'll work something out.
[steve] well, I'm excited that you're going to buy
a claim, emmy. That's super.
-Yeah, yeah, let's see. -You know.
Hopefully, we'll find a good one.
[emily] yeah, I'm excited you're going to come
prospecting. It should be fun.
Mmm-hmm. Be there be square.
[emily] all right.
[mike] on the other side of the harbor.
[man] dude, we've been waiting it's like three months now.
A lot of time's gone by.
Yeah.
[mike] nome's mad scientist
is ready to bring his creation to life.
[zeke] I need the validation of having
a couple solid dive days
on the sailboat dredge.
[upbeat music playing]
[man] check out this lunchbox.
Barbecued, a bunch of ribs last night.
[laughs]
[bleep]
all right.
And tool box.
-Tool box. -All right. Yeah.
It's not just that I have to prove
that this concept will work.
I mean it needs to pay for itself
and that means getting some gold
out of that ocean in a hurry.
I got to come up with somewhere
around 35 ounces to breakeven.
A first dredging day like this,
on a system like this complicated and elaborate
it's a lot to get to know,
but I think it's gonna be good.
I got a good feeling about it.
All right. Good to go.
Today is going to be first ever
gold mining sailboat dredging day.
Good to go.
In an ideal world we will find
super bomb gold on 56.
Fingers crossed.
I mean I'm not gonna jinx it.
We need to stack up some g.
We got this bitchy little breeze coming out
of the west.
Yeah, this is kind of sketch.
[zeke] not gonna cause us any problems.
-I'm going out. -[suspense music playing]
[zeke] it's possible that this is not an ideal day
to be taking out the black swan.
The gusts are pretty substantial.
There's a lot of conditions
that we're really vulnerable to,
but it's been a good number months
since I've been underwater getting on some gold
and it's now or never.
[upbeat music playing]
[zeke] we did a bunch of sonar mapping out on 56.
I found all the places where I think it's likely
for there to be gold
and so I just want to go
anchor up, drop the hose down,
get all the gear running,
suit up, and then just see if I can find
any hot spots there.
So we're pulling up here.
I'm going to want to have the anchor down here
sooner than later.
Do you want me to throw it over the hose
or under the hose?
I want you throw it over the hose.
So once we stop I'm gonna have to drop
the hose down and then it's gonna be awkward
like hose is gonna be kind of...
Anchor's got to go over the hose.
Yeah.
[zeke] sam and raven are by no means
old hands at running sailboats or gold dredges.
Definitely gonna be a steep learning curve
when it comes to captaining and operating
this crazy contraption,
especially considering I've been away
from dredging for as long as I have.
Where do I want to go?
Maybe I'll go right over...
I like that right there.
There's a cobble field
that there's a certain sand field
right over there
and then there's like this big cobble field
and then this reef that, kind of, sticks out
to the right,
that's probably where the gold is gonna be.
Like, if my experience can inform me
of anything that's probably where it's gonna be.
So that's where I want to start out.
[suspense music playing]
oh, yeah, I like this.
This is where we want to be.
Anchor up.
Pump motor is running,
everything's balanced okay.
You know, it's a little wobbly.
It's a sailboat.
All that needs to happen now,
we need to jam some gold,
greasy, dirty gold into that sluice box.
[man] finally
[humming]
[zeke] I've been in the yard working on this boat
for a long time and my dredging muscles,
and my dredging skills are getting a little rusty.
I need to get back up to speed soon
or we're gonna be boned.
[breathing]
-[man] go. -[zeke] all right.
Now I just got to start working.
[suspense music playing]
[zeke] all right. I'm just gonna hang out here
for a second and just get comfortable.
I haven't been underwater for a while.
How's the vis?
[zeke] pretty green I got to say.
But it looks nice down here.
I can see the keel and everything.
[man] very nice.
[zeke] I mean I can see
up here but we'll see how it looks down
at thirty feet.
Going down the rope.
[suspense music playing]
[man] murky down there?
[zeke] dark and murky.
All right I'm on the bottom.
Diver down, all right.
[zeke] again, I'm so excited.
Oh, my god.
Hey, uh, can I get a little more throttle please?
Throttle up.
[man] like, one o'clock?
Yeah, clockwise.
[zeke] oh, that's good, dude. That's perfect.
I like the ground that I'm looking at.
It's really easy to work.
Just sand and cobble and there's little pieces
of like little rocks.
And I'm seeing, uh...
I'm seeing, uh...
-Gold in it. -Wooh! Woohoo!
[zeke] everything's going great.
I want to get some time in.
[man] we're right on it, man.
[zeke] apparently we still know how to do this.
I'm so pumped though, all the systems work,
he's down there everything is like...
It's going great.
This is awesome.
[suspense music playing]
getting a little bit of a chop.
[zeke groaning]
guys, I'm just getting yanked around
every which way and I don't understand why.
[man] it's kicked up quite a bit.
We're kind of rocking back and forth quite a bit.
[zeke speaking]
hell, yeah.
[zeke] I want to get some time in.
[upbeat music playing]
[kris] we're so close everything I can taste it.
Elim's right on our port.
You can see out the window right now.
[mike] after five years of scheming,
three weeks of prep, and two long days
of over 120 miles of travel...
The gold gods are smiling on us.
[mike] the kellys had finally made it to their glory land.
The distant shores of elim, alaska.
[brad] I can believe we finally made it now.
Let's hope it's very prosperous for us.
It's go time.
Go make some [bleep] money finally.
[upbeat music playing]
our plan is to stay away from the front of elim
so not too many people notice what we're doing.
Go out, go past, slip into iron creek behind it.
[kris] elim's super remote
rumor is it's like the wild west.
The town can be a little suspicious of outsiders.
So to keep it on the down-low
we're gonna prospect down by iron creek.
It's a secluded area on the outskirts of elim
that my research shows there's huge gold strikes
in the early 1900s in that area.
Nice, dude.
I'm feeling very good about this place now.
-[man] flat calm. -[kris] oh yeah.
Now we just have to find the gold and stake the claim
but we're good at that.
We're gonna make this work today.
[man] woohoo!
[kris] it's time to make this happen.
[suspenseful music playing]
[chris] just by looking on the on the beach
there's actually... There's a little creek
over there that's...
Almost lined up to where we at right now.
That is a good spot to start on.
Okay. Push it.
-[man] boom, baby. -[kris] elim, baby.
This is it the real adventure.
This is my chance to start on fresh ground, my territory,
something that I can get three to five ounces an hour.
We got to move quickly.
We got to find that gold.
We got to stake our claims fast.
Moment of truth, I hope this [bleep] starts no problem.
-Come on, baby. -[chris] I just hope
we strike it right away.
-I hope... -[chris] that would be...
...We strike it right away too.
[man] at least some gold will be nice.
Yeah. So we need to see some gold right away.
[engine revving]
we got it.
Today, I'm going down first.
I'll put us on the gold and andy's on clean-up duty.
It's big gold or nothing.
You're good, k.
[dramatic music playing]
[man] get that gold through.
[kris] okay. Buddy,
let me show you how you do this.
All right.
[suspenseful music playing]
[laughs]
we're way deeper than I thought we were.
Bam. I'm ready.
[andy] what's the bottom look like?
[kris] I don't know if this is bedrock, dude,
looks like we're on a mountain or something.
[tense music playing]
[kris] it is solid rock.
[andy] okay, well just keep... Walk around of it
and try and punch some holes in there.
I am.
Give me a couple of minutes.
Dude, I can't get through the rock.
Well, that's not good.
[kris] no, it's not good.
Just keep looking for the gold.
[kris] no, I'm not giving up.
I just got down here.
But there's like three inches of sand
and it goes right to mountain.
[man] that's just like in the bluff,
you gotta look through those cracks, buddy.
[kris] oh, I found a little trench.
Nope, never mind.
I thought it was gonna go somewhere
and it didn't go anywhere.
There's no material to work right here.
All it is is sand and rock
underneath the sand.
There's no clay layer.
[andy] okay. Well, keep punching holes, keep looking.
[kris] I am. I'm on it.
There's no holes like that.
There's no holes to put.
God. The hose is too small.
[andy] want me to untie it from the boat
and tether you off and let you drift off?
[kris] yes.
Let me out some tether.
[andy] yeah, I'm gonna go do that.
[suspenseful music playing]
I'm gonna tether him out,
let him go with the boat
and let him move around a bit.
There they go.
[suspenseful music playing]
[kris] okay. I'm a good 30 or 40 feet away.
Okay, they're out... They're on the loose.
You got free range, dude.
[kris] I'm doing zigzag patterns
trying to find something.
-[dave] yeah, it's always really discouraging... -[kris] [indistinct]
[dave] ...To get to a new area and you think, oh,
it's gotta be good, man, you know, and there's no gold,
no gold, no gold. And you're "oh, god.
No gold." right?
But you keep looking eventually
-you're gonna walk into it. -[kris] [indistinct] [bleep]
-pretty exciting when you do. -[kris] [indistinct]
and I'm trying.
I'm really trying.
I'm not leaving without gold.
Welcome to another episode of kris kelly's
secret guide to successful mining.
[whimsical music playing]
today, we're gonna be going through the intricate parts
of staking your own claim.
So, you will have your own piece of land,
and you will own something.
So, today, I'm gonna walk you through the different steps
and it's pretty simple. It's a lot easier
than you think it is.
It's actually a long [bleep] process.
I hope we can cut this [bleep] part, you know,
like 45 minutes of talking nonstop.
And bam, you have staked your own claim,
get your own piece of alaska.
Process pretty simple, you get the coordinates
to the claim, you go out there,
you make sure there's gold on the claim.
[brad] are you seeing any gold?
[kris] I'm already seeing some gold.
[andy] look at it all, look at it all.
Then you put a piece of rebar with your name
and fill out the proper paperwork and bam,
you have staked your own claim.
Get your own piece of alaska.
[whimsical music playing]
[kris] so, first of all, you have to go
to the bureau of land management,
you have to see what claims are available,
then you have to get the gps coordinates
because everything fits in like a little square.
Forty acre claims is what we're gonna be
talking about today. Then you have to go
to that square with your gps in your boat,
find gold on that claim.
[brad] are you seeing any gold?
[kris] I'm already seeing some gold.
Look at it all, look at it all.
So you go into shore with your gps,
you find the coordinates to the corner of the claim
and then you stake a piece of rebar with your paperwork.
And bam, you have staked your own claim
get your own piece of alaska.
[whimsical music playing]
[kris] and I try not to be a whining ass bitch but I am.
I thought this was today's off.
If I drink more than two beer at night,
I lose my personality in the daytime.
Don't ask me what the [bleep] it is.
Sure I wish I could be robin williams
party all night long and go to work all day long.
But I'm not that dude.
Whatever.
[producer speaking]
so, let's go stake a claim.
And bam. That right here is how you stake a claim
in alaska.
Thank you very much for your help.
-Let's get going. -Yup.
And thank you for checking out another episode
of kris kelly's secret guide to successful mining.
Check me out next time.
Who knows what [bleep] I'm gonna do?
[upbeat music playing]
[mike] off the coast of nome, alaska.
[vernon] yo, you okay?
[jerry] oh, great.
Well, that's what I want to hear, man.
[jerry] man, there's gold down here, you know that?
Whoo.
That's terrific, jerry.
These boxes are gonna be loaded.
[mike] the battle royale aboard the gold ship
wild ranger is in full swing.
[jerry] get it all, yeah.
-Gold [indistinct] -check this out.
Yeah, yeah, hell, I see it glittering.
Yeah, bring it home to daddy.
That would be gold daddy.
Were on some hot gold,
the competition's working out nicely
and they're playing for a nice little prize also.
I don't want you guys at each other's throats.
But the top guy gets an all-expense paid
trip to vegas.
[vernon] but if we get enough gold maybe all of us
will go to hawaii.
[jerry] I'd rather go to vegas.
[vernon] the trip may cost me, but they'll bring in
10 times that much in gold.
This is my year, it's all coming together.
Finally.
I'm feeling more and more justified
about buying 56.
This is the best money I've ever spent I do believe.
[jerry] I think so too. So far I've seen more gold
down here on this run than I've seen
anywhere else out there.
That's a damn good sign.
Hey, jerry, it's time for you to come up.
[upbeat music playing]
[jerry] all right. Perfect. Roger that, boss.
I'm on my way.
I wanna clean that test mat here pretty quick.
And we'll see how you're doing.
-I know there's gold there. -[jerry] yeah, roger that.
Jerry's gonna dive in.
We're gonna check the test mat.
Anything to juice up the game.
[suspenseful music playing]
[vernon] we pull the test mat, rinse it out.
Now... We will pan that material.
Hey, brian. We'll pan it right quick
and then that way you'll see what you're looking at
down there. I want him to be fully primed
and motivated we know we're in the gold.
Oh, looking good.
Oh, yeah.
All right, looking real good.
-Oh, man. -[vernon] oh, yeah.
[jerry] hell yeah. Whoo.
Oh, look, picker. Picker.
[man] told you there's gold down there.
[jerry] we got a picker.
[vernon] jerry was right on top of it.
That test mat was loaded.
Brian's got his work cut out for him
if he wants that trip to vegas.
All I know is in this game, I'm the house
and the house always wins.
[upbeat music playing]
[jerry] yeah.
[suspenseful music playing]
[bryan] all right I'm near the bottom.
Touch down.
All right. We have a touchdown.
[bryan] all right.
Let me take a look around and...
See where jerry left off I can...
I'm gonna start right here.
Yeah, nice looking material.
[man] have you seen gold yet?
[bryan] oh, man, yeah. You can see the gold.
Right there, see it?
I got a picker. Whoo.
Oh, man, there is nice gold down here.
Yeah, this is awesome.
This is what I came here to nome for. Whoo.
All right. Bryan, you've got some big shoes to fill.
That damn jerry, he tore it up, jack, he tore it up.
[jack] that's about one of the best test mats I've seen.
[jerry] tell jerry I'm gonna beat him.
-The game is on. -[laughs]
yeah, full throttle. Let's go.
Maybe I'm just gonna really like this competition.
Yeah. I mean, I might even jump
down there myself if this [bleep] keeps up.
Fifty-six. Fifty-six.
The heat is on.
[mike] back in town.
[country music playing]
here comes trouble.
Hey, son.
Hey, how's it going, dad?
-Not too bad. -Not too bad?
[mike] shawn pomrenke has an appointment with destiny.
Thinking about retiring.
Yeah, well, it's about time.
It is? [laughs]
well, you just want me out of your hair.
[laughs]
I'm in for a million to pay off the tomcod.
And another 350,000 for the myrtle.
I'm already in deep.
The inland mine could possibly cost me
more than both of those put together.
In this negotiation, I have to keep the upper hand.
I need to tread lightly.
You deserve your fair share.
Oh, I'll buy you out.
And I want no [bleep] lawyers involved either.
If you're gonna be on a piece of paper notarized
by the notary.
Two pieces of paper,
three pieces of paper,
no, none of this lawyers bull [bleep].
You know, if you're signature and handshaking,
good enough than to hell, we don't need a bunch
of damn lawyers.
We have to do it right, though.
All right. I'll give you five pages at the most.
The shorter the better.
Yes, no, I agree.
We can keep it simple.
You come up with a deal.
I'll look at it.
Well, I need a ballpark figure.
Whoa. [laughs] I ain't giving you no ballpark figure.
You can figure that out yourself.
Do you want land? You... What are you...
-What are you trying to... -I don't want no land.
I want money.
Retirement money so I can retire.
Money as in yellow metal.
Well, you're certainly pretty frugal, so...
Maybe I want to get extravagant in my life
when I retire and not be so conservative
as I have been in my last 30 years.
I need a fishing boat down in minnesota.
And I need a new fishing house in the wintertime.
What else do I need? I need a new...
-[indistinct] -[steve] ...Pickup to haul fishing boat.
That's what I need to have fun in retirement
and I don't have none of that now.
You know, either you gotta buy me out,
or I'll find somebody else to buy me out.
[shawn] whoa.
[upbeat music playing]
[shawn] there isn't no chance my dad's gonna cut me
any kind of break because I'm his son.
I would never expect a break from steve pomrenke
because that's just how he operates.
The season is ticking away, shawn.
You know, you're spending all this money
on the myrtle irene, that's money
that you should be using to buy me out with.
From what I'm building this next dredge I'm building,
there ain't gonna be no worries.
[steve] yeah, yeah, you're confident in the myrtle irene,
but, you know, am I? Eh, I ain't that confident.
Well, that's you.
I know what I'm doing and I'm gonna show you
how to pile up a [bleep] ton of gold
-in a short amount of time. -Oh, yeah? [laughs]
you watch, yeah, because as soon as we come up
with a price, you don't think I'm gonna
go out there and dig until I get it paid off?
-[laughs] -[bleep] damn right I am.
I'm gonna buy you out.
I'll work on it, I'll come up with a proposal.
Well, I need a ballpark figure.
What's the company worth?
I suppose I'll have to look in the books and see
what it says on the book.
It's worth more than just the bunch
of the mining equipment, it's worth the effort
that I put into it in the last how many years too.
So, add that into that number.
And if you disappoint me there, then I'm just
gonna discommunicate you.
Or disown you or whatever that word is.
It sucks that my dad's the biggest potential obstacle
in the total domination of mining in nome.
That's just the way it is between us.
Good news is if I can buy him out,
I'll never have to worry about it again.
I'll come up with a proposal for you.
All right.
Simple.
Simple five page contact, all right?
[shawn] five pages or less.
-[upbeat music playing] -[zeke grunts]
[zeke] this current.
[mike] after years on the sidelines,
the rust is clearly showing for zeke tenhoff.
[zeke] oh, my god.
[mike] as the strong currents throw the captain
and his sailboat around like a rag doll.
[zeke grunts]
I'm going to come up the hose.
[suspenseful music playing]
[zeke] the boat's all swinging around,
and my tether is wrapped up in the rudder.
Um, do you think you could try to pull my tether up?
Yeah, we can do that.
[zeke] thank you.
Hey raven...
-[raven] what's up? -Pull his umbilical line up.
[suspenseful music playing]
[zeke] that looks good. We're all untangled now.
[zeke speaking]
[engine revving]
[zeke] the sailboat is really getting buffeted around
a lot more from these wind and swells than I expected it to
and it's making it really almost impossible
to stay on the spot that I wanted to.
I'm gonna have to readjust the anchor from the bottom.
I gotta drag the sailboat
over where the cobble is, and this is not gonna be easy.
Ow! [bleep]
[zeke speaking]
[man] you gotta take care of yourself.
[man speaking]
all right.
Look, I just... I worry.
[zeke] climbing down the anchor line.
He shouldn't be diving but, you know...
[zeke] the current is ridiculous.
I mean, it must die down,
it must be at its apex right now
because this is about as hard as I've ever caught the current.
I'm gonna pick up the anchor and I'm gonna walk south
until I find some cobbles.
Does that sound good?
[zeke grunting]
[zeke] it's happening.
[zeke grunting]
doing all right?
[zeke] dude, it's really hard to move around.
-[grunts] -[man] and we're right here with you, bud.
[zeke] amen, brother.
Uh, mobility issues.
Having a hard time moving around.
[zeke grunting]
how can we help?
[zeke] dude
[bleep]
this is...
[grunts]
[man] yeah, man, I don't know.
[zeke] I can't really move because of my back.
I'm gonna come up.
[grunts]
[dramatic music playing]
[zeke] good news today is the black swan
has a super strong dredge for mining,
and we're on top of the gold.
And the bad news is,
I really tore my back out today
and it's gonna shut me down.
If I don't get my back fixed,
I can't dredge.
You know, I'm in the hole.
That's not gonna work.
I am useless if I can't move
the right side of my body,
so I don't really have anything more
to say about that. And so...
Well, I'm ready to pull anchor [indistinct]
all right. I'm gonna fire up the outboard.
Let's go back to the harbor.
[eerie music playing]
whoo, it's great up here.
I love being up here
in steve's weird, wild, wonderful world
of nome, alaska.
We're here to talk about aliens.
Fact or fiction?
Me personally,
I've never seen an alien.
An alien himself walking around, you know,
never seen one.
But I found out about aliens
through study, video, youtube.
My job today is to dispel
all the rumors
and to bring to life
that aliens are here.
Alien fact number one.
They're after our gold.
The aliens use gold in their warp drive,
and we have defenses up
to detect those mean old aliens
that wanna steal our gold.
Alien fact number two,
hollywood has got this thing about
aliens and anal probes,
aliens, anal probes.
It's like when you get abducted
the first thing they go for is the private part.
[man screams]
uh-uh, that is a fiction.
So, I want to dispel that right away.
Alien fact number three.
Popular alien fiction is they all look like the...
You know, the funny eyes and big head,
hmm, not true. There are all manner of them,
little ones, big ones.
Some don't even have bodies, really.
They're like jelly fish.
Alien fact number four.
Humans will unite someday
against this alien gold-stealing menace.
It just sickens my heart
that I can't get as much gold
as the aliens do, and I want to.
If I could the alien ship
and sneak in there and get the gold, 'cause they got...
They got pounds of it there, it feeds their warp drive.
That's pretty much all you need to know about aliens in nome.
Oh, and that any species that has a warp drive
is not interested in doing probes
in your private bottom,
unless you're one of the really strange
minors around here,
and I won't even go there.
Hoowee!
[suspenseful music playing]
[mike] east of nome, alaska.
[steve] oh, that's a shack, shack, shack.
-Yeah, how's that? -Never been...
There you go, dad, that's your next, uh, rental.
Yeah, my next project.
[mike] the riedels are on a recon mission.
[steve] I could invest with you,
but first I gotta get enough gold
to buy gas for this thing.
[mike] gathering intel for emily's
potential claim purchase.
[emily] I like that, let's go look it up.
[steve] all right.
Uh-huh.
All intents, that is like beach mine.
-Yeah. -Thank you.
Welcome back to the race,
the beach rat race.
[grunts]
old pans and classifier,
uh, lunch for the day,
broths and pizza,
and, uh, we didn't bring any...
We grabbed a bucket.
We forgot a bucket, but it's all right.
We'll use the pans.
Okay, emily, you tell me what to do,
you're the real gold miner.
You can pan almost anywhere down here,
you can pan these, uh, red sand,
red and crushed iron sands,
and, uh, find a little bit of gold.
It doesn't matter how much, but what you wanna do,
if you find something like this,
or the red sand is right over the clay here.
And then, you, uh, take, like, a little bit
to do a test pan with.
We just wanna do a real quick pan.
Gold likes to hang out with other heavy minerals,
so you wanna look for a good concentration
of red and black sands.
If there's a decent indication of gold in the test pans,
you might be able to assume
that there's some decent gold out in the ocean.
Okay.
You just take it.
I'm just trying to do a pretty quick pan of it,
so you don't have to be too careful.
[steve] generally, you never turn your back on the sea.
-That's kind of a rule when you're on the beach. -Is that a rule?
-Yeah. -Is that a steve riedel rule?
No. No, that's a rule everywhere, yeah.
-So like a sailor's rule? -No, it's like a rule...
Well, dad, the problem is,
is I have to either turn my back on the sea
or turn my back on the steve, and I think I'd...
-I'll stand over there. -[emily] I'd rather turn my back on the sea.
Don't turn your back on me.
[emily] exactly.
Beach gold is super, super fine.
That's the pain in the butt about it.
If it was coarser, there'd probably be a lot more beach miners.
[steve] how's it looking, emmy?
Yeah, I see some flakes.
It's there. There's gold but very, very fine.
[steve] it is super fine, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah, there's a bunch of it
but it's really, really fine.
Very, very fine.
-Yeah, I'm not crazy about it. -There's no gold here, really.
Just a little, just hardly to see it.
-We wanna see some bigger pieces. -[steve] okay.
[emily] and there you wanna see more of it.
The first test pan that we did on three,
a little bit of fine gold,
nothing at all very exciting.
So far not so good,
but, uh, it's totally worth doing more prospecting.
Let's, uh, let's head over to that creek right there.
-Okay. -[emily] and take another sample.
All right.
[emily] I'll get back and, uh, side by side,
-keep looking. -[steve] yeah.
Onward and overboard, let's go.
[mike] 120 miles east,
in a far-off land.
[suspenseful music playing]
[kris] I've got a place where it's a little thicker,
getting my hopes up.
[mike] kris kelly is still grinding away.
[kris] nope, nothing so far.
[brad] yeah, well, keep looking.
[kris] okay, I'm moving.
[mike] determined to make his epic journey
an epic success.
It took a long time for us to get here.
Um, kris is just walking around.
He's looking around on the bottom right there.
[kris] all it is is sand and rocks.
Same at the... We're on a massive rock base down here,
like, my [indistinct] extended out.
[kris] I'm really not seeing anything gold in all of them.
-Okay, well, keep looking. -[kris] yeah.
I'm working it like crazy.
I'm trying my best, man.
I can't make gold in here.
Okay, I'm 40 feet away.
Now we're finding big rocks.
Here we go, here we go.
Hey, guys I found a really big rock.
Underneath big rocks, there are sometimes big gold.
[brad] you think gold underneath?
[kris] I don't know, I'm gonna lift it right now.
Trying to get some leverage on it.
[grunting]
[groaning]
kris, you all right down there?
[kris] I just [bleep] my knee up.
Ow.
I'm coming up.
[brad] andy, he's coming up.
[kris] sorry, guys.
This sucks.
[kris speaking]
[kris groaning]
oh, man.
Oh.
[man] he's just so eager to prove
that he's gonna get gold out here
and he kind of overdid it.
Now he hurt himself.
[kris] I can't do with one leg.
[man] he has to slow down, he has to slow down
a little bit, take a deep breath.
[kris] I'm done for the day.
[kris] the ground is solid rock.
No clay layer, no cobble, no nothing.
Elim has sucked so far.
It's been a money pit
and it's costing us a fortune.
Now my knee's messed up.
Now andy's gotta go down and turn our luck around.
[andy] are we pulling around the boat right now?
[brad] uh-huh. We're gonna... Let's give it five minutes,
and, uh, you go back down.
[andy] all right. Yeah, I'll be [indistinct].
Andy's gonna, uh, go next.
We gotta keep the ball rolling, you know?
[dramatic music playing]
[kris] we're too far away from shore.
Everything's starting to kick up.
We're gonna reposition the boat closer to shore
and andy's gonna start prospecting
towards iron creek.
We're not giving up yet.
[motor starting]
yeah, round two. We're gonna have a lot of rounds.
You know what I mean? It's not... If it was that easy,
everybody and their dog would be here
jumping off the boat and getting gold.
You gotta look for it.
You gotta find it.
You gotta work for it.
[kris] take the dive.
[brad] are you okay down there, andy?
[andy] yeah, I'm fine.
We'll see what happens.
Hopefully he can really produce something
right off the bat would be nice.
[andy] all right. I landed right on the rock bed.
What's happening? No cobble?
[andy] no. I'm seeing all rock.
I got a nice little crevice in here.
Well, see how deep it is.
Try and follow back and see where it goes.
[andy] yeah, I can check it out.
Yeah, I got clay.
Got some clay right there.
Oh, he found some clay.
So it's more productive,
so we'll see what he finds here.
Maybe he'll find some gold.
[andy] and then once you get past the clay layer
there's, uh, a little bit of cobble that's loose.
Sand on top but the cobble's a couple inches down below.
[brad] well, that's good news, andy.
[andy] hey, don't get their hopes up there, bud,
let me just see what's here.
Get in there.
Let's see what... Let's see what's right here.
Hold up.
Come on.
All right.
What are you seeing, andy?
[andy] yeah, there's a little bit of gold right here.
[brad] hey, he found gold!
He found gold!
[laughs]
[kris] now we're ready to rock and roll.
[brad] well, try and follow that gold
and see where it goes.
[andy] that's basically it.
So wait, you're not seeing nothing again, andy?
[andy] yeah, just that little bit.
That was it.
There wasn't even a whole lot either,
a couple of speck, but hey,
from what I've seen all season.
[dramatic music playing]
[brad] yeah, we got a little bit of gold
but nothing worthwhile for staking a claim yet.
But there is gold here.
Don't give up yet. We just have to look around.
It's here. We just gotta find it.
[andy] let me get the hell out of here.
[kris] I know it's still early,
but it can't go down like this.
Not after this many years.
We've staked everything on elim.
I have faith. I have no choice at this point.
[brad] is everything going good?
[andy] it's going fine, if it gets any better,
I'll let you know.
Yeah, no, we've gotta make this work.
We came all this way down to elim,
I know we've gotta make this work.
[dramatic music playing]
[mike] 120 miles east of nome, alaska.
[brad] how's it going down there?
[andy speaking]
punched another hole, he saw through the hole,
now he's punching.
All sand to hard bedrock.
[mike] hours into the first day,
and all the kellys have mined so far
is heartbreak.
[producer speaking]
yeah, and elim, that's the problem with it,
it's a tough mission right now, so.
What are you seeing, andy?
[andy] it's the same as it was going
just like four minutes ago, dad.
I'm still seeing no gold.
It's all sand [indistinct] rock bed now.
[kris] so far this trip sucks.
It's costing me twice as much as I thought.
We left late, we haven't found anything all day.
And andy isn't finding anything.
[andy] my boat's shifting and pulling my umbilical.
It's just pulling me along with it.
[brad] so what do you wanna do? You wanna come up?
[andy speaking]
okay. Come on up, then.
[andy] I'm gonna get the hell out of here.
[brad] kris, pull him in.
[kris] screw this area.
There's no point to keep going here.
I can't remember a day we actually got no gold.
[motor stopping]
[andy] yeah, it's sand as far as the eye can see.
Well, this is... This claim's garbage.
-Yeah. -Hell, they all can't be winners.
[bleep] bummed out.
Sorry, everybody to lead you on a wild goose chase.
-[man] it's not over yet. -[bleep] we're gonna push a little harder.
[kris] this isn't working the way I wanted it to work.
-[man] we're trying, dude. -Well, I know you're trying.
You can't make gold appear. I'm not mad at you.
I'm mad at me. I'm mad at me.
-[man] I'm mad at you, too. -I'm mad at me.
We're gonna reposition tomorrow, try another area.
We really need the luck of the irish to come through.
We can't afford to stay on an area
that doesn't have any gold.
[man] don't worry [indistinct] we'll make it work.
[dramatic music playing]
[mike] 120 miles west.
Hey, brian, what are you seeing down there?
[brian speaking]
[mike] the competition to see
who can make vernon adkison the richest
is in the home stretch.
[vernon] gary's up here and he's saying,
"there's no way in hell.
The guy's a lightweight, he got lots to learn.
I bagged it and he's just a beginner."
so, um, I don't know, brian.
You might have to have a talk with him
when you get back up here.
[brian] I'm gonna get double the amount of gold
than gary got, that's for sure.
[vernon] I'm loving this.
My divers are in competition with each other.
They're bringing in the gold,
it's like a gold cash register.
Ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching.
Brian, I'm up here watching you work, man.
[gary speaking]
[brian] [laughs] uh-oh.
Amateur.
[laughter]
[brian] oh yeah, I got [indistinct]
[vernon] all right. That look like a real good gap.
[man] awesome. Come on up.
[vernon] and I don't know, gary is saying
he's got you beat, but we'll find out.
[brian] all right. Sounds good.
I'm on my way.
[vernon] all right. We'll check out the test match.
Yeah.
Gold is the prime motivator.
There are four prime motivators,
food, shelter, sex, and gold.
Oh, hell, yeah, I beat gary.
I saw so much gold down there, it's not even funny.
[vernon] ha, we will find out here in a minute.
Which ones comes first for me,
I'll let you figure that one out.
All right. You guys have got a side bet
of a hundred dollars riding on who has the best reveal.
Are you ready for the big throwdown?
Whip it up.
Ah. Okay.
That is pretty damn decent.
That's a few grams right there.
-[gary] here's mine. -[vernon] oh.
Bada-bing.
Damn.
I gotta say, I mean, just from...
The... From an eyeball perspective,
brian's got [indistinct]
oh, yeah, smiley.
[laughs] that's not bad for a test mat.
[vernon] it looks like brian wins the trip to vegas
and hundred bucks for the day.
But judging by the test mats,
they both put a lot of ounces in the box.
Man, that's a lot of gold.
[vernon] hey, whatever you get in that test pan,
there's 10 times as much in the box.
[brian] awesome.
[vernon] I'm pleased.
And if gold daddy's happy, everybody's happy.
[mike] down the coast...
[seagull squawking]
[upbeat music playing]
[emily] thank you. Thank you. All right.
[mike] the riedels look to make a final call
on the golden prospects of claim three.
[steve] any, uh, promising [indistinct]
[emily] yeah, I like this.
These got like a black and red layer right here.
A lot...A lot of, uh, a lot more black than red.
You see that?
Kinda coming, looks stratified right here.
[steve] uh-huh.
Actually, I have no idea what I'm doing out here.
But I'm glad to help emily
while she goes and scopes the sites.
Besides, I have nothing better to do.
I don't have any job here in nome.
And if emily finds some gold,
maybe there's something in it for me.
[emily] bigger garnet pieces here.
Let's do a little test pan here.
There's a major river that comes out through this area.
And chances are, there's a decent amount of gold
showing in this river,
then it's washing out into the bering sea.
It's a little bit...
A little bit of mineralization here.
But, uh, it's mostly sugar sand,
so there's a lot of light stuff,
I thought I'd check it out.
See, look at that.
All that heavy mineral content right there.
-[steve] oh, okay. -[emily] it's a lot, uh,
a lot of, like, light stuff mixed in there.
Man, I feel like an old-timer gold miner right now,
panning to a stream.
[steve] you are. It's how they did it.
Came out with pans and shovels, picks.
[emily] I'm really not seeing anything exciting, dad.
[steve] aw.
[emily] that layer looked really interesting.
[steve] well, yeah, it had lot of, uh, black sands,
and red, and...
Well, there's some gold in it.
Not really enough to, like,
make me excited about this claim.
There's a little bit of fine gold,
but the gold needs to be concentrated
and present in greater amounts.
So it's not really worth staying here.
Oh, gosh, it looked so promising.
But there's just not much gold in it.
What happened to the gold?
All the good signs but the gold.
I'm getting kinda hungry.
Okay. I'll get some firewood.
We can pretty much
cross three and four off the list.
So this leaves claim six.
Hopefully, it has something to show us.
Otherwise, I don't know if I should go east at all.
[steve] uh, how am I gonna do this?
-This... -[laughs]
right in there.
Yeah.
No. I'm hungry. I need pizza.
[emily laughs]
oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, okay.
And this side now. This side, right there.
Ah, it's heating up fast.
Oh, look at it go.
There's no one on the earth like steve riedel.
[laughs] woo.
[emily] it was a little bit of a prospecting bust,
um, but I did get to watch my dad
cook a slice of pizza over the fire.
Mmm-hmm.
[emily] which really made up for it.
It's a busy summer and it's not often
that you get a chance to just chill out
and catch your breath.
So it was some good quality time.
It's been fun hanging out with you, dad.
Yeah, I love...I love being out here with you, emmie.
But I'm real proud that you're making your way up, emily.
You're doing a great job.
Oh, thanks. It's all right.
I just need to, uh...
Keep working at it.
Just trying to do enough, uh...
Data collection to justify a purchase.
Want me to, uh, call it?
Come back another day, keep looking?
Yeah, let's call it. Let's just leave.
-[emily] all right. -[steve] let's go.
I'll get the shovels.
[emily] sounds good.
[steve] no gold and no gig,
but time with my daughter, man, that's precious.
But I do need to start making cash
and that time is now
or preferably yesterday.
[emily laughs]
[steve laughs]
[mike] one hundred twenty miles east of nome...
So right now we're looking for
where we're gonna park for the night.
We're gonna throw down anchors,
we're gonna get some barbecue up and rolling,
because I'm hungry.
[mike] after a long, hard day, and nothing to show for it,
kris and his team hunkered down for dinner.
[andy] we came through right here.
We're just barbecuing
and spending the night on a boat with six guys.
Look, today sucked. There's no way around it.
We're gonna get some food in our stomachs,
rest for the night, and get back at it tomorrow.
We just have to keep hope alive
and keep believing.
Because if the claim's a bust, we're screwed.
We're gonna finally make some dinner
and everybody will be in a better mood.
I brought my trusty traeger around,
hence we're ready to go.
[sighs]
here, andy, grab the other half of this.
[kris] dad.
I really wish we didn't have phone reception.
[phone beeping]
on the menu tonight is barbecue chicken,
then we're gonna have some steaks.
[andy speaking]
[kris] well, where is the salt and pepper?
I don't know. Uh, did you take them
when you guys came to the house,
and went through all the boxes,
and took out what you wanted?
[kris] you left... You must have left the box.
[andy] I don't think so, dude.
I'm a person who likes to eat.
[kris] so, we left the main box
of cooking supplies back in nome,
it had basically everything in.
[man] you checked in every box?
[kris] I'm telling you, we left an entire box of food.
[man] you guys don't have a can opener, do you?
-All our food vanished in. -[kris] yeah.
Half of the [bleep] didn't make it on the boat.
We left all the spices, the ribs, the chicken,
everything good was in that box.
We're screwed for four-star meals now.
You know, now it's gonna be some bland,
tasteless ass-crap
that's gonna be just enough nutrition
to make it through the today.
Hamburgers and hotdogs.
Thank god, it's wood smoked for some [bleep] flavor.
We don't have rice.
We don't have potatoes.
We don't have cheese.
I mean...
You got to have a burger with cheese.
What do you want me to say?
It's not... I didn't make the rules.
But, yeah, I did notice you
brought all the [bleep] beans, though.
[kris] I like beans.
That's a great thing to have on a boat with six guys.
[kris] I didn't think we would be eating beans
as our only source of a vegetable.
This trip is not going good so far.
It's like a comedy of errors,
except I don't think this is funny.
Bam. We're done.
It's burger time.
[man] well, that one is nice.
I got more buns than the burger.
-Hey, j. -[kris] yeah?
I ordered on the adult menu, not the kids menu.
-[laughter] -[andy] what the [bleep]
[kris] well, they shrink off.
[man] how is it, andy?
It's edible.
How is it, brad?
[laughter]
[kris] come on, they're, uh, smoke-flavored.
[andy] I don't even taste that.
I tasted burnt-ness.
[kris] it's the only kind of flavoring we have right now.
[man] is it better than mcdonald's, brad?
No.
[man] how many stars would you give it?
One star because I'm hungry.
You know what, I don't listen to complaints
because you know what, it's the only food,
so that makes it the best food.
[kris] you know what, you...
Don't do me a favor if you eat it, okay?
[mike] one hundred miles away
back in nome,
way back in nome...
[engine revving]
I know he's out here somewhere.
Oh, I see some lights now.
[mike] the elder pomrenke has chosen...
A uniquely remote location
to hash out a deal for the inland mine.
[shawn groans]
[shawn] oh, nice, warm place. It feels good.
[steve] it's a really nice night, ain't it?
[shawn] yeah. Beautiful.
Maybe my dad decided to do this way out here
in the middle of nowhere,
so nobody can hear me scream
when he stabs me in the back.
Figuratively, of course, I think.
Um, it's kinda nice view right here.
[steve] so you're gonna talk some deal here
about buying me out dinner?
[shawn] yeah.
Oh, I kind of ran through the numbers
and think about what I think its worth.
Yeah. Well, did you come up with a number?
[shawn] what do you think, dad, 1.5?
[steve scoffs]
[shawn] that's half the...
Well, I don't know.
About a couple of years ago,
1.5 would have been good, but look at
all the money we're putting into this place,
company in the last couple years.
That's either the...
Well, we run... We could run the numbers, but that's...
[steve] ...The good of the land and then the expertise,
um, making it all happen,
so that's worth something, too.
That brings the price up if you ask me.
[shawn] well, like how much up?
Well, I think you can add in there
a million on the dot
for that for the total price.
It seems to me it takes a couple million in the...
In the bank to retire anymore.
Well, what do I got in the bank?
Zero.
I got a mining company in nome, alaska
for my retirement, so...
And a kid that knows how to keep everything running.
[steve] well, there's a truth in that.
[shawn] what are you looking for every year?
[bleep] the most I can get.
[shawn] well, I know that, but I got...
We got to eat around here, too.
Don't I get a family discount?
[steve] [scoffs] there ain't no family discount.
The price goes up when there's families involved.
How about if I take, three-quarters of the gold
that we got leftover this year for a down payment?
[shawn] well, what if we make a whole bunch of gold
and the three-quarter covers most of the buyout?
Well, that would be the greatest scenario for me
to get... Pay me off as asap, as soon as you can,
then I'll be out of your hair.
Nobody to holler at you, I mean, just think
it'd be dream come true, shawn.
Yes, it would.
[laughs]
this negotiation is just much about
sending my dad packing
as it is buying the inland mine.
It's worth every penny I have.
[steve] well, we figured the whole company's worth three million.
Um, I'll take 300 grand to start with,
you know, and then how much...
A hundred and fifty grand a year after that,
for how many years?
[shawn] well, that'd be eight years.
[steve] [indistinct] until you get paid off.
That'd make me happy.
[shawn] as soon as you take the down payment,
then it's sold?
[steve] yeah.
To me, not to anybody else.
[steve] yeah. It's all yours after that, so...
[shawn] that would make me happy.
[steve] all right.
All good.
[shawn] it's still gonna cost me an arm and a leg
to get my dad off my back.
Plus what I owe on the tomcod
and the myrtle irene upgrades,
I'm in the hole nearly three million dollars.
All right. That's somewhat of a deal.
Sounds good, dad.
I have confidence I'll make it all back plus millions more.
You got to get back?
I'm gonna go make some gold.
[mike] and now, it's time to flex
our bsg brain muscles with...
Do you know your miner?
[audience applauding]
[shawn speaking]
[mike] back in the day when shawn and his dad
meant to gently discuss mining strategy...
It's a long overdue conversation,
I'm telling you.
[mike] what terms of affection did mr. Gold
call his beloved father?
[mike] was it a [bleep],
b [bleep],
or c [bleep]?
[steve] you think we need you that bad?
-[shawn] you're a [bleep] -[steve] well...
You're a [bleep]
you're a [bleep]
[mike] if you guessed d, all the above,
then you know your miner.
[audience applauding]
[shawn] [bleep] great, great, great.
[dramatic music playing]
[mike] on the outskirts of nome, alaska...
[zeke] I'm having some back issues,
and of all the reading I've done on the internet
about what you're supposed to do in these situations,
all you can really do is to try to, like,
roll the muscle knot out
and get rid of the muscle knot.
[mike] zeke tenhoff's rolling with the changes,
hoping to get back fast.
[zeke] well, I didn't have a back roller,
and I looked around, and I found this back roller
and it's a, um, [indistinct]
everything about mining,
you know, like, really the whole activity of it
really depends on high-level physical fitness.
Hauling yourself with, like,
60 pounds of dive weight
and all your gear,
up and down the hose,
and then on and off the boat,
if I'm so gimped up that I can barely move my head,
then nothing can happen.
And that's where I was at today.
[dramatic music playing]
[zeke] there's not a whole lot
of mining season left.
If my physical body's not gonna work,
it doesn't matter how awesome this creation is,
it doesn't... How... No matter how capable it is,
we're not gonna make any money.
[dramatic music playing]
[zeke] I've put a lot of work
into getting the sailboat dredge
where it is right now.
At this point,
I just need to go get a fat clean-up.
I don't know what else to do.
[mike] five miles southwest...
[tense music playing]
[vernon] this is how I like to pan gold.
This is what I call tubbing.
Just kind of slapping around.
[mike] vernon adkison is enjoying the fruits
of his divers' labor.
I don't like those little... Tiny, little pans.
[man] that's a man pan.
[vernon] I like these tubs full of gold.
All right. That's enough fun.
For now, let's clean it up.
[upbeat music playing]
[vernon] those guys went at it.
There were no holds barred.
I'm expecting a good clean-up.
That look pretty damn good to me, boys.
Because the more gold they get,
the more gold I get.
[man] there you go.
[vernon] all right. Here it goes.
We want good ground. Real good ground.
That's one... And then were...
And then we're hugging it.
Two,
three,
four, five,
six,
seven,
eight,
nine,
ten.
11...Point
7.
All right.
[mike] 11.7 ounces.
That's worth over $23,000.
[man] whoo.
[vernon] what is that word we used so often?
Awesome.
I'm liking this competition thing.
I mean, this puts gold in the box.
Yeah.
[vernon] I couldn't have played this any better.
Fifty-six is loaded.
Now all we got to do is put that gold in the box,
so I can pay for the claim.
You guys are riding with the wild ranger.
-Yeah. -[vernon] as long as
you can stay in the saddle,
you will reap the rewards.
It doesn't take much to make me happy.
A nice pan of gold will do it every damn time.
[man] yeah.
[mike] next time on bering sea gold...
[man] we're ready to go mining.
[man] oh, yeah.
[man] this is what all comes to down to
because it didn't work first try.
[kris] this is exactly what I wanted to avoid.
[man] get out of here.
Everybody had said that you're gonna get run out of here.
Everybody said that?
[emily] I don't know what's taking daryl so long.
You're at the airport?
This is insane.
[man] these swells are getting dangerously close
to the sluice box.
[man] think I'm gonna dredge for another hour
and all this luscious weather.
[vernon] when we can't get out on the ocean,
we can come here and work.
A lot of gold was taken out of here,
but I'm gonna tell you, they didn't get it all.
[man] there's a whole bunch of gold right here.
Whoo. Round it, baby.
[laughs]
[man speaking]
[man] hell, yeah, man.
Gold.
[groans]
[man] shawn, you okay?
-[gunshot] -[man] oh [bleep]
[man speaking]
[man] get down.